The present invention relates to an apparatus for sanitary and convenient pick-up and disposal of animal waste or excrement.
Disposable animal waste scoops are known for use when walking a dog, for example. Dogs and other pets are often walked on city and park lands, and other public areas. During such walks, the owner is normally required to remove and dispose of any waste or excrement left by their pet. Additionally, pet owners normally remove and dispose of waste left on their own property by their pet. Thus, various types of scoops or devices have been proposed in the past for pet owners to use in picking up and disposing of such waste. Some of these devices comprise permanent scoops or shovels. However, these can be unwieldy and inconvenient to take on walks, and become soiled on use, making them unpleasant to carry. Thus, disposable scoops, bags and the like are known for use in removing waste when a pet is being walked.
Some prior scoops comprise paperboard containers or boxes which have an integral or separate scoop which can be used to scoop waste into the container. Subsequently, the entire container and scoop is discarded. This type of disposal scoop is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,503 of Allan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,266 of Nafzigger, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,598 of Ullger. One problem with disposable prior art pet waste retrieval systems is the fact that the surface of the container itself becomes soiled during retrieval of the waste, requiring extreme care while transporting the container to a disposal bin. There is also a risk of contaminating the hand of the person holding the container, both as the waste is being picked up and as it is transported to a suitable disposal site. Another problem is that the prior systems must be completely disposed of after only one use, making them relatively expensive as well as wasteful of materials.